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2023 - The Year That Was

Places impact you for a variety of reasons. And the same place impacts different people in different ways. This is especially true when it comes to spiritual experiences, where every single person’s experience is unique. And personally, every spiritual experience is unique, the same person can have different deeply spiritual experiences at different places, at different times. This thought has emerged because of my own experiences over the years, but especially so this year, with different and unique experiences at various places I have visited recently. I began this year with a visit to Baroda (Vadodara) with friends. It was meant to be a relaxed trip, a touristy trip, with our sons. We enjoyed ourselves to the hilt, but the highlight of that trip was a visit to the Lakulisha temple at Pavagadh. It was the iconography of the temple that I connected with, and I spent a few hours simply lost in the details of the figures carved around the temple. There was an indefinable connect with

Ranganatha Swamy Temple, Srirangapatna

In a time long, long back, even before temples were built, certain sites were considered sacred. Among such sites are the islands on the Kaveri, which were marked out as abodes of Lord Vishnu. It is said, that when the Kaveri flowed down from Agasthya’s kamandalu, free and unbound, she asked a boon from Lord Vishnu, that she be considered more sacred than the Ganga. And Vishnu agreed. He replied, “The Ganga flows from my feet. You, Kaveri, are my garland! And it is thus she flows, around these islands demarcated for Him, like a garland, sanctifying the land, and those of us who visit, with her mere presence. The first among these islands is Srirangapatna, near Mysore.




Lord Ranganatha here is called Adi Ranga – the first among the Ranganathas, since there are more such abodes of his, downstream. The temple here is an ancient one, first built by a Ganga chieftain, Tirumalaraya, in 894 AD. The temple was later expanded by the Hoysalas, the Vijayanagara kings, the Wodeyars, and finally, Hyder Ali. The Hoysala and Vijayanagara influences are clearly evident, especially in the pillars and columns.

The entry to the sanctum is through a mandapa, which is decorated with various forms of Vishnu. Unfortunately, photography is not allowed inside the temple, and the outside was under renovation when we visited, so I do not have many photos to show you.



The main sanctum has a massive idol depicting Lord Vishnu reclining on the seven hooded Adishesha, his consort, Lakshmi at his feet, and other deities flanking him. This is said to be the biggest Ranganatha idol in Karnataka.



Interestingly, as I mentioned before, all the major islands on the Kaveri are dedicated to Ranganatha Swamy, and there are three such island temples –
  • The first is this temple, at Srirangapatna, 15 Km from Mysore, called Adi Ranga.
  • The second , Madhya Ranga, is at Shivanasamudra, 60 Km from Mysore, better known for its waterfalls.
  • The third, Antya Ranga, is at Srirangam, near Trichy, and is the biggest and grandest temple of the three!

A single day pilgrimage to these three temples is considered extremely sacred, and is popularly called ‘Tri-ranga Darshanam’.

This map I saw at the temple might be of use to those of you who would like to try out the Tri Ranga Darshanam


Even more interestingly, this temple also figures on another pilgrimage list – the Pancha Ranga Kshetram, or 5 shrines of Lord Rangnatha. These five temples are -
  1. Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple, Srirangapatna, near Mysore
  2. Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple, Srirangam, near Trichy
  3. Sarangapani Temple, Kumbakonam
  4. Sri Appakudathan Temple, Trichy
  5. Sri Parimala Ranganatha Perumal Temple, Mayiladudurai.

The story of the Ranganatha Swamy temple is the ancient story of Srirangapatna. However, the city has more stories to tell … stories from the more recent past, as well as the present. Over the next few weeks, you can look forward to reading more of these stories, so keep coming back!




Information:
  • Location: Srirangapatna is about 15 Km from Mysore.
  • Temple Timings: 07:30 AM to 1 PM; 4:00 PM to 8:00 PM



Comments

  1. Informative post. The temple at Srirangapatana is an impressive one. Nice to know about its connection with the other Ranganatha temples.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Nice post one...Thanks for sharing this...

    ReplyDelete
  3. Informative post. The temple at Srirangapatana is an impressive one. Nice to know about its connection with the other Ranganatha temples.Nice post one..

    ReplyDelete
  4. Thank you dear for this information. I was under the information that Srirangam and Srirangapatna both are same. I have visited Srirangam many times, but never had a chance to visit Srirangapatna. Thank you very much .

    ReplyDelete

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